Vale View

Aspin demands reaction as his side face the U's

3 November 2017

Port Vale boss Neil Aspin is demanding a response from his players after last week’s defeat to Swindon. Aspin guided Vale to three wins from his first four games before last weekend’s 3-0 home defeat and is asking his players to show their true colours tonight.

“The players have trained well since I have been here" he told the Stoke Sentinel "I think Saturday’s game was the first game that I felt they had been poor. It was also the first game, where I felt they didn’t work hard enough. So, instead of just criticising for the sake of it, I think we have to look at reasons why you lose the game, and then you just have to remind the players of what they need to do to try to be competitive in the games.

“The biggest thing is we must try to outwork the opposition, we can’t afford to not do that because we are certainly not going to be able to just turn up for games and expect to get points.

“If we play like we did on Saturday we have no chance. If we play our best and play like we did in the Exeter game, then we are capable of giving them a good test.

“I have seen Oxford play, they have good players, they keep the ball well, they pass it and, from watching them, I would say they are definitely better than the level we are playing at.

“If they play at their best, they will be a difficult proposition for us, but my thoughts at the moment are purely that we have to get back to working hard.

“So, there has to be a massive improvement just for us to have any chance in the game. But it is not just looking at Friday’s game, we have to continue doing what I think is the best with the players that we have.”